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Thursday, 16 August 2018

Remembering Sarah

There is nobody quite like Sarah, she really was one of a kind.

I first met her when I went to work for Superdrug back in 2005, she made me feel welcome and as a team, we all bounced off each other. It didn't matter that I was older than her, because when Sarah said 'Let's play Bogies' We would all play Bogies down the aisles. Suddenly we all became kids again as Sarah started to whisper 'Bogies', then we would get louder and louder until Sarah finished it with the loudest shout or a customer walked in the shop.

We always found something to talk about and we would catch up with the latest weekend news in our lives, but as soon as the door opened and we heard the manager's keys jangling, we would scatter to the opposite ends of the store. Then when we had a tall person coming into the store, she would run about with her arms in the air whispering 'There's a giant in the shop', she was forever making us laugh with her fab sense of humour. I hadn't really worked in a place like this before, but I loved working with her.

There were times when Sarah was serious, I will never forget her kindness when I returned back to work after I had Tilly. I was struggling and she could see it. When I finally had my breakdown and admitted that I couldn't cope anymore and wanted to leave work, she helped to talk me into staying and when I would go to work in a foul mood, she would again run around saying 'Vicky's going off on one, stay away from her' She made the situation laughable and my moods would turn around and it made those struggling months easier to live with. She would ask me what the voices in my head were saying and would tell me what to say back to them. Some people might think that she was taking the mickey out of me and mental health. But she was making it easier to live with. I started to realise that whatever mood I was in when I went to work, I would be such a happier and more positive person when I left there to go home.

When Sarah left Superdrug and I moved to Folkestone, we didn't see so much of each other but then Sarah started working in Barnardo's where I would often pop in and we would laugh about the things we would get up to and she would talk to me about Tilly and her travels. She would joke with Tilly and teach her some jokes, One was repeated so much to the teacher at school that it was mentioned in her school report. This made both Sarah and I laugh so much. The childish streak was still there with us both, despite the years passing us by.

Even when Sarah became ill, she was so positive and she still joked about. She was such a positive person and radiated that positiveness to everyone around her. Without that positiveness, I don't think I would have got through the dark days of PND. Sarah helped me through some tough times over the years and that's why it was so hard to say goodbye to her. The funny thing is that Sarah left everyone she knew with so many good memories and it feels like she is still with us today. I will never feel alone, all the time that I remember Sarah.